X ban in Pakistan enters fourth month

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Tax lawyers and real estate experts said Wednesday that Pakistani authorities shed light on factors behind possible capital flight and tax evasion following new leaked records revealing offshore real estate assets of the country’s political and military forces. He said that an investigation should be launched to find out. and the business elite.
Dubai Unlocked, an investigative project involving more than 70 news organizations from around the world, investigates high-profile cases including money laundering suspects, drug lords, politicians and their associates accused of corruption, and sanctioned businessmen. The real estate ownership in the emirate of a world-famous figure has been revealed. Among other things, for terrorist financing.
The data is from 2020 to 2022 and includes only residential properties.
“The Federal Board of Revenue should launch a thorough investigation following the data breach, as this is a serious issue of capital flight,” economist and tax scholar Dr. Ikram ul-Haq said in Arab News told.
He said the investigation needs to reveal whether Pakistanis bought properties through legal funds, adding that Pakistanis who bought properties in Dubai should be given rental income and profits earned from the properties in a yearly manner. It added that there is a legal obligation to declare it on the next tax return.
“Pakistanis can send $500,000 abroad for investment with prior approval from the central bank,” Dr. Haq explained. “That’s up to FBR.” [Federal Board of Revenue] This is to ensure that the funds are being legally transferred to Dubai for investment and that the assets have been properly declared by the owners. ”
The FBR and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of Pakistan did not respond to several calls and text messages for comment.
The Pakistanis targeted in the leak include President Asif Ali Zardari’s three children, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife, and Sindh’s Sharjeel Memon. They include the minister and his family, Senator Faisal Vawda and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Sher. Afzal Marwat and six members from the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.
The list of Pakistanis includes the late General Pervez Musharraf (retired), former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa’s son, more than a dozen retired army generals, as well as police chiefs, ambassadors and scientists. It also includes people. Of these, they owned real estate either directly or through their spouse or children.
Pakistani politicians were last named in the 2016 Panama Papers, leaked documents showing how the wealthy exploit secret offshore tax systems.
Abdul Basit, an Islamabad-based tax consultant, also said the FBR may seek information on whether the assets revealed in the leak have been declared in tax returns.
“If the owner of offshore real estate fails to prove that the asset in Dubai was purchased with legal funds, the tax authorities may impose a fine on the beneficiary,” Barsit told Arab News. .
Meanwhile, real estate experts said lackluster governance, rapid currency depreciation and poor tax policy related to the sector in Pakistan are the main factors driving people to invest in residential properties in Dubai.
“Dubai will continue to be a top destination for real estate investment in 2024 thanks to its dynamic economy, favorable government policies and strong infrastructure,” Dubai real estate investment expert Faizan Manshei told Arab News. Told.
“The main factors include Dubai’s tax-free environment, favorable economy, safe and stable environment, and thriving tourism industry.”
Manshei added that Dubai also has a strong rental market, excellent return on investment and projects from world-class developers, making it an attractive option for domestic and international investors.
Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Chairman Asif Soumsum said Pakistan’s real estate sector has “huge potential” and could provide employment to thousands of people and contribute to the national exchequer. .
Mr Sumsumu called on the government to reconsider its policies related to this area.
“Pakistan’s rulers and the current government must think about why Pakistanis buy property in other countries and why people feel insecure in Pakistan and choose a second home abroad,” he said. .
Real estate analyst Muhammad Ahsan Malik pinpointed four key factors that hinder investment in Pakistan’s real estate sector.
“Currency devaluation, high interest rates, bad government policies and vicious taxation on the real estate sector are among the key factors hindering investment in real estate in Pakistan,” Malik told Arab News.

politician gives explanation
Reacting to the Dubai Unlocked revelations, Pakistani politicians said they had bought the property and declared it to the authorities in accordance with the law.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi explained his position on the issue, saying that the Dubai property he bought in his wife’s name in 2017 was fully declared and included in his tax returns.
“I was also declared as the administrator CM in the tax return submitted to the Election Commission.” [chief minister] of Punjab,” he said in an X post. “The property was sold a year ago and I recently purchased a new property with the proceeds.”
Sher Afzal Marwat, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker and former aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has admitted that he owns an apartment in Dubai, but he has not been able to report it to the Federal Board of Revenue or the Election Commissioner. The incident was reported to the Pakistani authorities, including the organization. Pakistan.
“That can be seen in both FBR and ECP,” he said.
President Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party also said the Dubai leader’s assets were officially declared in his tax returns.
The real estate records at the heart of the Dubai Unlocked project are the result of multiple data breaches, most of them from the Dubai Land Department and publicly-owned utility companies. Together, this data provides a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai, as well as information about their ownership and usage.
The data was obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a Washington-based nonprofit that studies international crime and conflict. This information was then shared with Norwegian financial institution E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which coordinates investigative projects with dozens of news organizations around the world.